Springfield public schools getting $9.2M in upgrades this summer

Patricia Nikson says she's looking forward to her third year as principal at Fairview Elementary School more than any other year. Her building will finally have central air conditioning.

“It was tough last (August) with the hot weather,” Nikson said. “We had lots of days where kids were out, some of it due directly to the heat. So we are very excited.”

Installation of central heating and air-conditioning systems at Fairview, 2200 Ridgely Ave., and Iles School, 1700 S. 15th St., this summer are among the latest on the list of projects funded through $86 million in health and life-safety bonds the district sold between 2009 and 2010.

The district is spending $9.2 million this summer to improve eight aging buildings. Other projects include new roofs at Feitshans Elementary and Washington Middle School, repaving three parking lots at Springfield High School, and building interior walls at Lee Elementary School.

Darrell Schaver, operations and maintenance director for Springfield schools, said the district will have about $6 million in bond revenue left after this summer. Most of that balance, however, will be eaten up next year when the district installs central heating and air conditioning at Lincoln Magnet School, he said.

The only remaining buildings in District 186 after Lincoln Magnet without a centralized heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems will be Hazel Dell and Laketown elementary schools and part of Lanphier High School. All three buildings currently rely on window units, Schaver said.

“We have 34 schools and additional buildings on top of that,” Schaver said. “So having the ability to use heath (and) life-safety bonds enables us to keep them going and makes them good spaces for students to learn and teachers to teach.”

State OK needed

District 186 sold $30 million in health and life-safety bonds in 2009 and another $56 million in 2010.

The state of Illinois allows school districts to use a provision known as the Health/Life Safety Code as a way to improve aging buildings without going to voters via referendum to ask for additional money.

Sangamon County voters rejected a 1 percent sales tax increase in 2010 that could have provided the district roughly $9 million to $10 million annually to pay for construction of new gymnasiums and the replacement or renovation of the Springfield district's three high schools.

Board member Adam Lopez has floated the idea of asking voters again to approve the 1 percent countywide sales tax, but other board members have been cool to the idea.

Bill Looby, a former school board member, said the decision to issue health and life-safety bonds wasn't tied to failure of the sales tax referendum.

Looby said Springfield was coming off a few hot summers, and board members realized the importance of having central air in each of the schools.

“I think it was a unanimous vote,” Looby said. “These were clear infrastructure needs in buildings we could move on without much delay.”

The health and life-safety process, however, comes with more restrictions than a sales tax increase does.

All projects have to be approved by the state, and the money can't be used to construct a new building outright. For instance, the district used health and life-safety dollars to build Enos and Matheny-Withrow elementary schools.

Both had to be the same size as the buildings they replaced under the rules.

“It's a one-for-one replacement,” Schaver said. “They had enough violations or work in them that the (State Board of Education) allowed a replacement as opposed to a renovation.”

Every school benefits

Every school in District 186 has benefited from the bonds the past five years.

A big chunk of the money has been spent on installing HVAC systems at schools, 28 of which were built more than 45 years ago.

However, the money also was used for repairing roofs, asbestos abatement, new windows, new lighting, new electrical wiring, installing fire alarms, replacing doors, paving parking lots and fixing plumbing, among other projects.

Here's a look at what some of that money has been spent on, with original cost estimates:

School Superintendent Jennifer Gill, who took over in May, said staff hasn't discussed future improvements after the current funding runs dry. The current debt on the $56 million bond issue isn't scheduled to be paid off until 2026.

Gill said those discussions will likely be part of a new long-term, comprehensive plan.

She noted that she benefited firsthand from having central air installed in 2010 when she was a principal at McClernand Elementary School, 801 N. Sixth St.

Being able to keep students cool creates a better learning environment, she said.

“Having air conditioning allows students and teachers to feel comfortable in the classroom,” Gill said. “If you come in and sit in a hot classroom, it takes your metabolism down a bit, and you're not going to be as productive.”

Nikson, the Fairview principal, can't wait.

“We don't want to have to watch the thermometer that closely,” she said.

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